Trying to follow what it did on Thursday (Feb. 24) night at Findlay, the Ashland University men's basketball team's second-half comeback on Saturday (Feb. 26) afternoon against Hillsdale on Senior Day at the Sherrill Hudson Court at Kates Gymnasium unfortunately came up short.
The Eagles lost to the Chargers on Saturday, 75-65, to end the regular season at 18-9 overall and 14-6 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference. Hillsdale is 20-6, 15-5.
"They made some big plays, and we didn't quite execute," said Ashland head coach
John Ellenwood. "If we had a better first half, we might have had a better result. It's tough to fight back from that type of deficit against that team."
By virtue of that defeat, Ashland will play a first-round 2022 Great Midwest Tournament game at home on Tuesday (March 1) at 7 p.m. against Cedarville.
WHAT HAPPENED
- Ashland came out quickly, scoring the game's first five points on a 3-pointer from senior guard Dylan Beaugard and a dunk from junior guard Brandon Haraway. Hillsdale switched the momentum, however, as an 18-7 run put the Chargers up by six points halfway through the first half.
- The Eagles cut their deficit to 20-17, but again, the Chargers had a quick response – this one in the form of a 6-0 spurt. Hillsdale continued to extend its lead, and by halftime, it was 39-29 – thanks to 60.9-percent shooting from the field, keeping AU to 35.7 percent, and having an 18-9 rebounding advantage.
- In the first 20 minutes, Haraway continued his red-hot play of late, posting 14 points.
- Hillsdale led 48-33 coming out of the first media timeout of the second half, and the Chargers led 50-35, but a triple from sophomore guard Tre Baumgardner cut the deficit to 50-40.
- With 12:15 to go, Hillsdale led by a dozen points at 54-42. Ashland came roaring back, however, and with 10:05 to play, senior guard Bo Furcron made a triple to cut the deficit to 54-49.
- Hillsdale led 59-51, but then the Eagles scored five straight to trail by only three with 7:24 left and at the media timeout. Then, with 5:45 to go, Ashland went into the bonus at the foul line.
- With the Chargers up 65-58, they were assessed a bench technical foul. Haraway scored points No. 23 and 24 to cut the deficit to five points, and senior forward Aaron Thompson's put back made it a 3-point game.
- "It was a one-possession game. We were that close," Ellenwood said.
- Hillsdale had the last answer, however, in the form of back-to-back buckets for a 71-64 lead with 1:37 remaining.
THE WRAP-UP
- Haraway finished with a game-high 26 points to go with five rebounds, three assists and four steals. He now has 1,074 career points, moving him from 30th to 26th on Ashland's all-time scoring list.
- "Brandon's a great player. He's doing everything for us," Ellenwood said.
- Thompson followed with 15 points, and with 1,532 in his career, he now is No. 9 all-time in Eagle annals.
- Hillsdale made 14-of-23 from the field in both halves, was 11-of-13 from the free-throw line, and outrebounded the Eagles, 32-21.
- Ashland turned the ball over just four times, but hit 43.9 percent from the floor.
- As for Senior Day, there wasn't a win to go without, but Ellenwood said, "We have a lot of great guys, and I told the guys before the game, these guys have honored the tradition that they came in here to play for, and are leaving it a better place, and that's all you can ask for out of a senior class."
UP NEXT
Tuesday's conference tournament opener, and, with a win, on to the Great Midwest Tournament Final Four on March 4-5 at Walsh.
AU
MBKB/DS
